“I’ve never been as nervous when I got to the line,” said Kronenberg, who was told that he didn’t look nervous.

“Outside, no, but inside I was very nervous,” he admitted.

The two free throws gave the Warriors (8-3) a 52-49 lead and forced the Crusaders to attempt a 3-pointer after Wilton committed two fouls it had to give on Trinity Catholic’s next possession.

“That’s why I put him in the game,” Wilton coach Joel Geriak said of his precocious ninth-grader. “He’s one of our best shooters. If you’ve seen any of our games, you’ve seen when he comes off the bench. He can shoot.

“He has ice water in his veins. He does not worry about anything when it comes to the pressure on him, and that’s why he was in the game.”

Kronenberg, who scored eight points, hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute of the second quarter to give the Warriors a 19-11 lead and force the Crusaders (6-5) out of their zone.

Jack Williams paced Wilton with 14 points while James Maloney added 10.

After Trinity Catholic’s Dimitry Moisie missed a 3-pointer from the right wing, Drew Connolly sealed the win by converting a pair from the line with nine seconds left.

Following the free throws, Peter Galgano missed another trey for the Crusaders. Connolly grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock.

Connolly scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer — Wilton’s eighth of the game — that gave the Warriors a 50-49 lead with 56 seconds remaining.

Following the 3-pointer, Trinity Catholic turned the ball over with 44 seconds left and Wilton ran down the clock until Kronenberg made his free throws.

The Warriors earned a gutsy road win, squandering a 34-28 lead late in the third quarter but then rallying from a 47-42 deficit in the final three minutes.

Previously, the game was tied at 38-38, 40-40 and 42-42.

“Down five with three minutes to go and come back and win is a great win, especially in this gym,” Geriak added. “In this gym it’s always tough to play in. Historically, it’s hard to get bounces. Drew Connolly finished off the game for us.”

Wilton built a 26-21 halftime lead on the strength of five 3-pointers, then made it 34-28 on Jack Wood’s trey with 2:15 left in the third.

Trinity Catholic, however, began to have success in transition and climbed within 36-34 entering the final period.

Moisie scored eight of his game-high 19 points in a four-minute span of the final period, including a layup after a steal that gave the Crusaders a 47-42 advantage with 3:09 left.

“We stopped playing defense, I think, and they got some layups inside and we took a couple bad shots but we’re young and we’re inconsistent,” Trinity Catholic coach Mike Walsh said. “We’ll get better as we go along.”

Galgano provided a spark in the fourth quarter for the Crusaders with nine points and his layup gave Trinity Catholic its final lead at 49-47 with 1:07 left.

“He gave us a good fourth quarter,” Walsh added. “I think the key with us is finishing. We’ve got to learn what a good shot is. We have to learn to be more patient.

“We have to pass the ball around and look for open shots. When we had the lead, we should have been more patient.”

Connolly’s two free throws made it 47-44 and after the Crusaders missed a layup, Connolly’s base-line drive pulled the Warriors within 47-46 with 1:59 remaining.

Following another missed layup by the Crusaders, Williams hit 1-of-2 from the line to tie the game at 47-47 with 1:33 left.

The win enabled Wilton to clinch a state tournament berth for the fifth straight year, tying a school record.

The Warriors are back in action on Monday when they host Danbury (7 p.m.).